Hi just real quick, was wondering if you guys could get some yerba mate. it preps up really nice in the inginuetea maker. i just have really developed a taste for it and would appriciate a selection from you( you guys do a great job with varietes etc.) it is by no means a substitute for wonderful green teas but it is a nice addition. thanks alot

Ok seriously, I know you weren't keen on my previous blend idea, but trust me on this one... One of my coworkers likes yerba because it wakes you up without caffeine (which she can't have) but couldn't get around the grassy taste... So she mixed it with peppermint, and it's really good! Because the peppermint is strong enough to completely mask the yerba taste so it just tastes like, well, yeah you get the idea. Now, of course, one has to like peppermint to go for that idea, but still...

I also had a customer request a blend of yerba mate and one of our flavored rooiboses. Not bad, once again it was strong enough to mask the grassiness (I kept her teabag after brewing it, yes, I'm a bad person I steal teabags). But I personally prefer the peppermint idea. Worth a try...

Grassy, some greens are called grassy you know. im not sure what you made it in but yerbas taste drastically veries depending on how much you use. If you try to go like the South Americans out of a guorde filled 2/3 full of the yerba it is gonna taste bad, real bad. If thats what your talking about i heartily aggree with you. im not a health nut out for the perfect not real cafinated beverage thatll make me live to 100; i just like its taste. If you take the ingenuitea out, put 2 teaspoons worth in it will taste very good. Not only that but it can be brewed about 5 times. My friend, who btw, also buys tea at adagio, loved the stuff when i gave him a try so im hoping we arent both just crazy. Thanks for listening to my rant.

I agree, it can be an acquired taste, but I quite like it now (although tea still rules). It can be very refreshing and a nice change of pace. I also like the fact that you can get decent multiple steeps from it.

I'm still trying to understand these "Mate Lattes," though. I've tried a few times to make one, and I have yet to create one that I find drinkable. Anyone tried one of these? I just don't get the popularity...

I've noticed that with yerba, it's pretty good when one uses a similar volume of yerba as one would with tea (about a teaspoon for a single cup of yerba), but when brewed the traditional way (much higher contentration), it can be a rather strong taste to get used to. Or, there is "bagged" yerba (same idea as teabags) which is alright too, but not as good as the looseleaf.

ok, i can understand why some don't like yerba mate. i didn't like it on the first drink or 2 but it has really grown on me. it's not a grassy taste. i equate it to drinking and old leather shoebox. that what it smells like, that's what it tastes like but i like it.

that being said, if you don't like the taste, try blending it with something. haven't tried peppermint but i once blended up a homemade Mate Chai with my own cloves, allspice, and cinnamonand you know what, the mate taste disappears immediately. i find a good chai blend (like mine ) gets rid of the 'grassy' tastes of green tea (if you don't like that.)

and i don't understand why people say they get some sort of pick me up from mate. i don't "feel" anything.

I thought Mate tea contains caffeine ... or at least the "Mate Latte" blend by Republic of Tea contains a statement that it contains half as much caffeine as coffee. Although it does have additional things added including coca. Regardless its only drinkable with lots of sugar and milk as a latte so I think I see Chris's point that even with coca if it needs lots of milk and sugar it doesn't necessarily go along with the image that Adagio wants of have among tea drinkers.

mate has *some* caffeine but not 1/2 of coffee. more like what you might find in a typical green tea. and i disagree with the milk and sugar. i drink my mate plain with nothing. milk and sugar would be nasty. i rather like the flavor of plain mate but it definitely is not for everybody, that's for sure. i mean there are plenty of people that don't like pu-erhs and if you don't like the strong taste of them, you're not likely to enjoy mate. (not that they taste anything alike, they don't, i just use that as an example because they're both strongly flavored).

I've studied mate intensively (actually started my tea life by drinking mate at a camp with a bunch of argentinians which led me to green, white, and rooibos) and no one is quite sure if mate contains caffeine or mateine, a similar compound without the bad side effects (jitters, etc.). I do know that once you have tried mate prepared the correct way (it is very difficult to make perfectly), that you will enjoy the flavor. If it is still to much for you, then you can always add some stuff to it.

Adagio, if you are still looking for a good brand of mate, ask aviva (www.yerba-mate.com) for some samples. They harvest some of the best mate around and they also have very good flavored mate. Also anyone that is interested, I highly recommend aviva.

There are also some other good brands out there. Cruz de Malta is one of my favorites. They offer some good flavored types (lemon, lime, orange). Rosamonte is also a very good brand (very strong though). www.gauchogourmet.com has the cheapes t prices for these brands and they quickly get you your order.

If anyone has any questions about mate,I know just about everything on the plant, just send me a private message, and I will answer any questions.

It's definately an acquired taste, although even after acquiring it, it still doesn't taste that good. It may just be the quality of the stuff I got (Guayaki), but I cannot find a way to brew a flavorful cup of mate. I'm thinking it could possibly be because the leaves look like fanning,s and maybe yerba mate also loses flavor just like faning tea.

Steveski wrote:mate has *some* caffeine but not 1/2 of coffee. more like what you might find in a typical green tea. and i disagree with the milk and sugar. i drink my mate plain with nothing. milk and sugar would be nasty. i rather like the flavor of plain mate but it definitely is not for everybody, that's for sure. i mean there are plenty of people that don't like pu-erhs and if you don't like the strong taste of them, you're not likely to enjoy mate. (not that they taste anything alike, they don't, i just use that as an example because they're both strongly flavored).

I have to differ with the puerh comment as I love puerh which I always drink plain (or at least the cooked/black puerh I've yet to have any raw/green) but I always have to add milk and sugar to mate when I have it both the ROT Mate Latte as well as plain mate that I had more resently.

Andy wrote:It's definately an acquired taste, although even after acquiring it, it still doesn't taste that good. It may just be the quality of the stuff I got (Guayaki), but I cannot find a way to brew a flavorful cup of mate. I'm thinking it could possibly be because the leaves look like fanning,s and maybe yerba mate also loses flavor just like faning tea.

The problem I think for you, is that you are not brewing yerba mate correctly. You say that you brew it for 20 minutes? There's the problem right there, yerba, just like green tea, contains tannins that are released if you steep for too long, and if you steep it to long it WILL taste horrible. And honestly, Guayaki is not the type that I prefer, rather I would go with cruz de malta (gauchogourmet.com), rosamonte, or aviva (www.yerba-mate.com).

Another problem may be the temperature at which you make mate. Unlike most herbals, yerba should be prepared at temperatures of around 180 degrees, otherwise the tea will steep bitterly.

Give those a try, and if you know any argentinians in your area, have them prepare you some mate, they know how to make it the best.

i've made a fairly decent amount of cups of mate, and i've never steeped it for too long for it to become bitter. I've steeped it for up to 15 minutes, and i've never had any problems with that. I've had Guyaki mate before, and found that it tastes pretty bad in general. My friend and I split a pound of yerba mate a few months ago from Eco teas, which tastes much better. (www.yerbamate.com) So, I would just try one of the brands TeaFanatic wrote about, or this one. You'll probably find it a whole lot better.

Andy wrote:It's definately an acquired taste, although even after acquiring it, it still doesn't taste that good. It may just be the quality of the stuff I got (Guayaki), but I cannot find a way to brew a flavorful cup of mate. I'm thinking it could possibly be because the leaves look like fanning,s and maybe yerba mate also loses flavor just like faning tea.

The problem I think for you, is that you are not brewing yerba mate correctly. You say that you brew it for 20 minutes? There's the problem right there, yerba, just like green tea, contains tannins that are released if you steep for too long, and if you steep it to long it WILL taste horrible. And honestly, Guayaki is not the type that I prefer, rather I would go with cruz de malta (gauchogourmet.com), rosamonte, or aviva (www.yerba-mate.com).

Another problem may be the temperature at which you make mate. Unlike most herbals, yerba should be prepared at temperatures of around 180 degrees, otherwise the tea will steep bitterly.

Give those a try, and if you know any argentinians in your area, have them prepare you some mate, they know how to make it the best.

Best of luck!

I've tried brewing it from 3 minutes to 20 minutes, but I settled at 20 just so I could the the most of the nutrients out in one cup. I'm not really drinking it for taste right now, just the health benefits, and the occasionally needed energy boost. It's also not the bitterness that makes it taste bad, it's just a lack of flavor. It has a nice, kind of smokey aroma to it that I like, but I can't really taste it when I drink it. It would be really good if the flavor was just as good as the aroma.

The temperature thing might help. When I first started making it, I would use water just below boiling. Then I started using 170 degree water which is what I use for green tea. Maybe the first times I brewed at too high of a temperature, then started brewing at too cool of a temperature.